America the Homogenized: Is That So Bad?

Here in the offices of The Curmudgeon, the staff is multi-ethnic. I, Crusty, am an Irish American for example (Gosh N Begorrah – which, by the way, is a phrase never uttered by a real Irishman.) Other members of the staff include Asian, Polish, Scottish, Italian, and African American. There are others, but I can’t remember what they are. Not only do we see this blend of cultures here, but in businesses everywhere. Throughout society, in fact.

I am thinking of this because of an article I read (which I read because I wrote it, and unlike some writers I know, I actually read the articles I write) entitled The Top Ten New Food Trends. It’s a great series (if I do say so myself – and I do), but in particular I am interested in the article about the new ethnicity of food. The article states that American Food is Now Ethnic. The gist of it is that with all the diverse cultures now populating America, naturally our food has changed as each culture’s food influences each other.

Generally, “homogenized” is a word that is applied to various things in a derogatory fashion. I gotta tell you, raw milk is delicious, but unless I personally know the cow that gave it to me, I’m a little wary of it. I’d rather be safe than sour. Homogenized is defined as A: To reduce to particles and disperse throughout a fluid, and B: To make uniform in consistency, especially to render (milk) uniform in consistency by emulsifying the fat content.

Is this such a bad thing when we apply the term to our culture and the people therein? I think not. As a race of people, we are mixing. While many zealots call for the purity of the Caucasian race, I think a little mixed blood is good for a people, or often is. I offer two examples to support this statement.

Moon Bloodgood - The fact proves the theory.

Consider the dog. The four-legged kind. On one hand you have purebreds and on theother, mutts. It’s a well known fact that purebreds carry with their breeds a myriad of health problems, and mutts, not so much. Before you judge that as a weak argument (dammit, the white race is not inbred, you cry), ask yourself why you are attracted to foreigners? Aren’t you? A foreign accent can make me swoon, and the reason is this: it is a deeply ingrained species survival instinct. Spread the semen around. Give you eggs to someone who will help your line survive. They’re from far away so you are not likely to share their blood.

Secondly, some offspring of mixed race couplings are stunningly beautiful. First of all, I want to say that there are beautiful women from most cultures (and I’m sure for you ladies, some dudes too), but when you combine a race with Caucasian, look out. I wonder if to a Japanese person a Caucasian looks better if they also have some Japanese blood. I suspect that’s true, and the same for other races. Halle Berry, anyone? Think of it as blending two types of grapes and making a stunning blended wine. The combination of the two produces a much better result than each grape would have on its own.

Share a glass of wine with the mixed-race person of your choice tonight. Or just a person of a different race. If you drink enough wine, maybe you’ll make your own fine vintage.